US inspects Boston's language instruction

The federal scrutiny began after Boston schools revealed earlier this year during a routine state review that 42 percent of its nearly 11,000 English language learners were not receiving the help they are legally entitled to, according to documents provided to the Globe under a public records request.

The same review found that school officials, by their own admission, were encouraging parents to decline the services, because their programs were full, or were not adequately explaining the options to parents, many of whom do not speak English.

Boston is the latest Massachusetts district targeted by federal regulators for denying equal education opportunities to English language learners, one of the state’s fastest-growing student groups and a population that has generally posted some of the lowest MCAS scores and high dropout rates.

Since last fall, Somerville and Worcester have entered into settlement agreements with the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice to bolster their programs and improve the way they identify students for services. The districts did not admit any wrongdoing, but could be brought to court by the Justice Department if they breach the contract.

It was not clear yesterday whether the Justice Department is pursuing a settlement agreement with Boston or has launched a formal investigation. Alejandro Miyar, a Justice Department spokesman, and Mitchell Chester, commissioner of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, declined to comment on the Boston case.

“This is a significant issue, one that we are taking very seriously, and we are confident that Boston is taking it very seriously,’’ JC Considine, an education department spokesman, said in a statement about the underserved students. “We are confident that this issue has the attention of leadership in Boston, and we see a commitment now to place this high on the district’s agenda.’’ School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson of Boston said in an interview this week that she has had no direct contact with the Justice Department, saying all federal correspondence has been sent directly to the state Education Department.

The state required the Globe to file a public records request last week to obtain hundreds of pages of documents, including the federal letters, which arrived this week.

“The schools want to make sure these students are well served,’’ Johnson said. “I think the most important thing is that students get services they need and deserve.’’

The first phase of a three-year plan is being implemented this fall, but the Justice Department has questioned whether the timeline is too long.

The growth in the number of English language learners this decade has challenged districts statewide, including Boston, where the group makes up almost a fifth of the city’s 56,000 students. Many programs were thrown into disarray, advocates say, after voters in 2002 abolished widespread use of bilingual education, which allows students to learn subjects in their native tongue until they master English.

The new law stresses teaching all subjects in English for nonnative speakers, using a student’s native language only sparingly. But in making the switch, many districts have failed to provide appropriate staffing, training, and programs, either because of funding shortages or misunderstanding of the legal requirements, advocates said.

Boston schools have argued that the 4,500 English language learners not receiving services had forms signed by parents declining a specialized program, instead placing their children in classrooms with teachers who were often not trained to teach students with language barriers.

But during the state review, schools could often not produce these forms, according to the records provided by the state.

Yet even if parents opt out of specialized programs for their their children - which some parents do, believing their children will pick up English more quickly around native speakers - federal law still requires districts to provide special help, especially if school officials know a language barrier is causing poor grades.

In a Justice Department letter sent to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in May, an agency attorney raised concerns about the underserved students after reading a recent Globe story about the issue, based on a report by the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

“If the article’s representation is indeed what the state has found, this finding implicates [the Boston public schools’] and the state of Massachusetts’ obligations to take ‘appropriate action’ with respect to [English language learners] under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act,’’ Emily H. McCarthy wrote in the letter, which the Globe obtained from the state.

She subsequently sent a second letter asking the state a series of questions about Boston’s programs, which the state answered this month.

The problem of underserved children could run even deeper in Boston than current statistics reflect, according to the state review. There may actually be more English language learners than the district has identified because many elementary schools improperly evaluate students, conducting tests only in speaking and listening.

Johnson stressed that the problem with English language instruction is not widespread, saying that about 80 percent of the affected English language learners are enrolled in 28 of the district’s approximately 140 schools.

The district’s remedy includes hiring 28 new teachers for these students, as well as redeploying existing staff with the appropriate certification, and training more classroom teachers to tailor instruction to students with language barriers. The district is using roughly $1 million in federal stimulus money.

Earlier this year, the district opened a newcomers academy for recently settled immigrant students who did not attend schools in their home countries for several years.

Some advocates said the investment was long overdue.

“These kids today are in classrooms where they don’t understand what’s going on,’’ said Miren Uriarte, coauthor of the Gastón report. “I think at this point the most useful thing is to think forward about what can Boston schools do to prevent this from happening in the future.’’